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Expanding Access to Tax Credits

Blueprint of Public Policy Priorities for the 119th Congress, 2025-2026

Decorative Blue Bar

Priority:

  • Support families by expanding access to tax credits and deductions and maintaining funding for vital social service programs support families

Legislative Initiatives:

  • Expand and extend the Child Tax Credit, protect small business and independent tax deductions, and prevent the diversion of funding for social service programs

Goal:

  • Support families by expanding tax credits for small and independent business owners by increasing access to professional tax deductions, and protect social service programs from being cut in favor of tax cuts for the wealthy

Background:

Taxes are the foundation of budgets for families, communities, and states. In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), which produced a financial windfall for ultra-wealthy people while cutting resources for programs that serve vulnerable populations including Medicare, Medicaid, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and federal student loan programs. The TCJA provisions are about to expire, and the 119th Congress has the opportunity to reverse the damaging cuts and protect American’s investment in its families, communities, and states.

The Child Tax Credit (CTC), a tax benefit for tax filers with qualifying dependent children, provides critical assistance to families as they assist with the cost of raising children. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the CTC was expanded to be fully refundable, meaning more families were eligible to receive the benefit. During this temporary expansion, child poverty rates lowered, and families could pay down their debt, put food on the table, and provide more resources for their families.Congress should prioritize expanding the CTC to ensure families historically left behind can have access to the resources they need. Congress should also protect and extend deductions for independent and small businesses to enable social workers to serve families and communities. Clinical social workers are one of the largest groups of mental health providers in the country, and many are practicing independently or as part of small practices. These types of small and independent businesses are the economic bedrock of many families and running them requires access to tax deductions to be successful.

Recommendations:

Given the importance of these tax deductions, NASW urges policymakers to:

  1. Expand and extend the CTC, protect small and independent business tax deductions, and ensure social service programs are not cut to pay for tax cuts for wealthy people.